Signs of Love
by MinuitSoleil1313
Summary: Stories of growing up with a deaf Sakura from Sasuke's point of view.
1. Chapter 1

As I sat in the hospital chair, holding my wife's hand, waiting for her to wake up. I looked down at her face, smiling a little, and thought about when we had met. I remembered the whole thing very clearly…

I was sitting in the corner at the Academy. I was trying to fend off fangirls, and Iruka-sensei had finally made them leave me alone. A pink-haired girl walked up to me. "Leave me alone," I said. She didn't say anything. I turned to look at her, since my back had been to her.

_I'm Sakura,_ she signed. I realized she couldn't hear me.

_Sasuke_, I signed back.

She smiled. _I'm happy you can sign. No one else at this school can. They make fun of me because I can't hear, but I can read lips and I know what they're saying. Do you want to play?_

I hesitated, looking at her, wondering if she would be a fangirl, too. Then I realized that she was just lonely and wanted someone who wouldn't make fun of her to play with. I nodded. _Okay_.

She grinned and hugged me. _Thank you! What do you want to play?_

I was taken aback at the hug, then remembered that my mother had said to be polite.

_What do you like to play? _I asked her. She frowned.

_I don't know. I've never played with anyone except my mom and dad before. What do you like to play?_

I was surprised. No one had ever played with her? My mom and dad didn't really play with me, but at least I had Itachi. Well…Mama, too, when she wasn't busy.

_Have you ever played tag?_ I asked.

She shook her head. I smiled a little bit. _You say, "Tag, you're it!" and run, then the person you tagged chases you until they can tag you back!_

She grinned and tapped my shoulder. "Tag, you're it!" she said. I didn't realize that she could speak so clearly, like a regular person. She ran off and I smiled, running after her.

That day, after school was out, Itachi picked me up to walk me home, like always.

"Hey, nii-san?" I asked.

"Yes, little brother?"

"Do you think Mama would let me have someone over to play tomorrow after school?"

He smiled. "Maybe. Who do you want to invite over?"

"I met a girl today," I said. "She's really nice. Her name is Sakura."

"I thought you didn't like girls, Sasuke. You said they're always chasing after you and trying to kiss you."

I shook my head. "This one's different, 'Tachi! She asked me if I would play with her and she looked really lonely, so I did, but I had a lot of fun, so we're friends now!"

"Why was she so lonely?" he asked me.

"'Cause no one else will play with her 'cause she's can't hear."

He looked kind of surprised. I didn't know why. "She's deaf?" he asked. I nodded.

"Why won't anyone else play with her, nii-san? She's real nice, and real pretty, and she talks normal, not like Aunt Rei. She can even read lips, so she doesn't have to sign all the time, but I think she likes signing better than talking. But I think it hurts her feelings when they won't play."

"I think they're scared of her, Sasuke. People do weird things sometimes. They're afraid that since she's different, if they hang out with her, people will think they're different, too."

"But why would you want to be the same as everyone else?" I asked. He laughed. "I don't know, Sasuke."

I frowned. We got home and my mom held out her arms for a hug when she saw us. Itachi got to her first, and then she picked me up and hugged me, too, when I got there.

"Mama, can I have someone over tomorrow?"

"Who, baby? Naruto? You know he's always welcome here."

"No, someone else. I met a girl today that I really like. She's really nice."

My mom smiled and said, "Come inside and tell me all about her, then we'll talk about having her over, okay?"

"Okay!"

We went to the kitchen. Itachi grabbed some cabbage and I asked my mother if there were any tomatoes left. She smiled and handed me one. I thanked her and she and Itachi and I sat down at the table together.

"Okay, baby, tell me all about this girl you met," Mom said, fully attentive.

"Her name is Sakura," I said. "And she's got pink hair and green eyes and she's the most beautiful girl I've ever seen in the whole wide world! She doesn't try to chase after me or kiss me. She's real lonely, Mama. She's never played with anyone besides her mom and dad until today! She didn't even know what tag is. She says that nobody will play with her and a lot of the people at school talk about her 'cause she's deaf. I think that's mean, Mama. I think it hurts her feelings."

My mom smiled sadly. "You're right, Sasuke-chan, that _is _mean. And I'm sure it does hurt her feelings. Aren't you glad Aunt Rei taught you sign language so you can talk to her?"

I nodded, smiling. "Yeah! So can we invite her over, Mama, please?"

"Well, I'll have to talk to her parents, but I don't see why not," she said, ruffling my hair.

I smiled. "Thanks, Mama!"

"Do you know her last name?" she asked. I thought hard. "Ha…Hatake?" I said, unsure. I think that's what Iruka-sensei said when he was taking roll.

She smiled. "Oh, I know her parents. I'll give them a call right now, how about that?"

I smiled and said, "Yeah!"

She went over to the phone and dialed a number. I crawled into her lap as she talked. I could hear Sakura's mother on the other line.

"Rin?"

"Hello?"

"Hi! This is Mikoto."

"Oh, Mikoto-chan! How are you?"

"I'm great! How are you?"

"I'm doing well, thanks!"

"How's Kakashi?"

"He's great!"

"Oh, good."

"And how are your boys?"

"Oh, they're fine!"

"Listen, Rin, Sasuke wanted to know if he could have Sakura over to play tomorrow afternoon after school. And she's welcome to stay for dinner."

"He does know she can't hear him, right?" Rin said uncertainly.

"Oh, yes, he understands."

"Does he know sign language? She can read lips, but it makes her feel awkward."

"Oh, very well! He has an aunt who's deaf, my sister, and she and I taught him how."

"You're sure it's okay?"

"Yes, of course! Sakura's welcome anytime."

"Alright, I suppose that'll be okay."

"I'm so glad, Rin. This'll mean a lot to him."

"I'll pick her up from school and take her to your house, because she needs to come home and change into play clothes first."

"That sounds great."

"Alright…and she'll have to be home by eight at the latest…Eight-thirty is her bedtime."

"Good, that's Sasuke's bedtime, too. Well, thank you, so much. We'll bring her back home whenever you want."

"Great. I'll call."

"Alright, well, I'll see you tomorrow, Rin. Ja!"

She hung up and said, "Mrs. Hatake said that Sakura can come over to play and for dinner tomorrow night, isn't that great?"

I grinned and nodded, hugging my mother. "Aa! I can't wait!"

She sent me off to do homework then. The next day, Itachi picked up both of us, and we went home to play. We had dinner together. That was when I was 100% sure I _like_-liked her.

Not that I would ever tell anyone that. I _was _an Uchiha after all. I had my ego to look after.


	2. Chapter 2

Three years later, we were put on the same genin team. I was glad about that. By this time in our lives, she, Naruto, and I were inseparable. Her father became our jōnin leader, which was good, because he could sign to her. She was the best at chakra control out of all of us. I was the strongest, and Naruto was the most passionate. He may be a knucklehead, but he's our best friend.

Sakura and I had hinted at a romantic relationship, but her father wouldn't allow one until she turned fifteen. We had three years to go if we still wanted to be together.

As of yet, I was willing to wait, and so was she. She and I had taught Naruto how to sign, because he wanted to communicate with her without making her feel bad. We got our first real mission after a while. A C-Rank. We were excited to go to the Land of Waves, but I didn't much like the man who we were escorting.

"Girl!" he said to Sakura. She looked at him intently. "What's your name?"

"Sakura," she said, sounding like she always did, a little nervous to talk, because she didn't know how she sounded.

She had gotten more comfortable with responding to us through speech over the years. We still signed, but sometimes on missions it was necessary to communicate through words.

"Well, I want you to be in front of me. I want the jōnin at my back and the boys at my sides. Is that clear?"

She nodded and was about to scamper off, but Kakashi put a hand on her shoulder. "No. Sakura, you stay on his left, and Naruto, you to his right, Sasuke, you take the back, and I'll lead."

I was signing all this to her while Kakashi was talking and the guy wasn't looking, and she nodded. She stayed to his left, and I went to his back.

"I will _not_ put my team in danger because you want to look at my daughter's rear," Kakashi said menacingly.

I smirked when the guy's eyes widened and he said, "Y-your _daughter_?" proving Kakashi was right.

We were walking along when suddenly, Sakura's head snapped up to the front. "Daddy, there's someone here," she said quietly. Kakashi's head whirled around. The man looked at her.

"Where?" Kakashi asked. Sakura simply pointed to a puddle in front of us and stopped in her tracks.

We stopped, too, and the puddle grew into a person. "A Mist Nin," I said, grimacing.

"I'm surprised such a little girl could sense me and you couldn't, _jōnin_."

Kakashi scowled, then suddenly, we were all fighting, trying to protect the man. I saw a ninja creeping up behind the man, and apparently, so did Sakura, because she kicked him, but he grabbed her by the throat. She coughed and clawed at his hands.

"Let go!" she choked out.

He laughed, his grip tightening. Her face was starting to turn colors. I quickly alerted Kakashi and he finished off the one he was fighting. Naruto and I kept fighting the two we had, and Kakashi attacked the man holding Sakura by the neck. She crumpled to the ground. I knocked my guy out and saw Kakashi sink a kunai into the ninja's heart. Naruto eventually injured his guy so bad that he had no choice but to slink away, dragging his remaining comrade by the hair.

We all ran to Sakura's side. She was coughing a lot and massaging her throat, but otherwise pretty okay.

Kakashi signed, _Are you okay, sweetie?_

She nodded. _My throat hurts, but I'm fine._

I put a hand on her shoulder. She smiled a little. _Sasuke-kun. Are you okay?_

I gave her a small smile of relief and brushed her hair back behind her ear. _Silly girl, you've been nearly choked to death and the first thing you ask is if I'm okay. I'm doing great. How are you?_

Before she could respond, the man we had been protecting said, "Whoa, whoa, whoa, she's _deaf_? I demand a refund! I don't want a deaf ninja protecting me!"

Fat tears started to roll down her face and I helped her sit up.

"She can read your lips," I said angrily. His eyes widened and he looked down in shame. Kakashi grabbed his collar and pulled him close to his face. "You lied about the mission rank!"

"I-I had to! There was a b-budget! I c-couldn't afford a B-rank! I'm s-sorry!"

"Sorry isn't going to cut it. You could have _killed_ these kids! They're _genin_, for crying out loud!"

Kakashi was pissed. I looked back at Sakura. A big hand-shaped bruise was forming on her neck. She started to cough again. "Kakashi," I said. "Leave him. We need to get her some medical attention."

He looked at his daughter and his eyes widened at the purpling skin, then he picked her up and told me and Naruto to drag the client back to the Hokage tower. The five of us got back to the Third, who said, "What happened?"

"He lied about the mission rank and we were attacked by four Mist nin," I said.

Lord Sarutobi turned to the man and said, "That's a serious offense. Someone lock him up. I'll deal with him later."

A few people scrambled to haul the man away and Sakura said hoarsely, "I can walk, Daddy. I just can't breathe very well."

He put her down, and Sarutobi said, "What injuries were sustained?"

"Sakura was choked, and the rest of us have only minor injuries. Cuts, scratches, that's all," I said.

He nodded. "Get her to the hospital. Kakashi, I'll expect a full report by Tuesday."

We nodded and left. A doctor was there that I had never met. I would later find out that her name was Tsunade, but for the time being, I was too concerned with Sakura to care.

Tsunade was kind, and she treated Sakura immediately. She was intrigued with the pink-haired girl, I think, and she took it upon herself at that point to help to solve her hearing problem.

You see, Sakura's deafness wasn't irreversible. It's just that no one knew how to reverse it.

And I was determined to help her fix it someday, no matter how much money it took, because Lord knows I have it.


	3. Chapter 3

When we were seventeen, and I came back to Konoha, immediately explaining to Sakura how I had left to protect her and I loved her a lot, Sakura and I were out on a date when Tsunade walked up to us.

"Hey, kids," she said, smiling.

"Hi, shishou," Sakura said.

"Hi," I said, annoyed that our date had been interrupted.

"Sakura, I just wanted to tell you…we found it."

"Found what?"

"The cure."

Her eyes widened. "You _did?"_

"We found a doctor in Sand who specializes in hearing loss. He's had cases like yours before, and they can all hear now! Isn't that great?!"

Sakura grinned her brightest grin, and even I smiled. She hugged her teacher.

"When do you want the surgery?"

"As soon as possible!" Sakura exclaimed.

"How's tomorrow?"

"Great! Thank you, shishou!"

Tsunade smiled. "I'll let you two back on your date. Bye, now!"

I smiled at my girlfriend of two years.

_Sasuke-kun, isn't that great? _She signed enthusiastically.

_I'm so glad, Sakura. It's wonderful._

She jumped into my lap and hugged me. I laughed, hugging her back. Then she pulled away a little bit and kissed me.

The next day, she had gone into surgery at Konoha General, because the doctor from Sand had agreed to come do the surgery here.

I was so nervous. The surgery took six hours. Kakashi was on a mission and we couldn't contact him, and Naruto and I were her main support. Naruto eventually had to leave, but I stayed up all night, sitting in her room and holding her hand.

When she woke up, I smiled at her. "Hey, sleepy-head," I said.

She smiled back. "Your voice is really nice, Sasuke-kun," she said groggily.

I grinned. She could hear me. I stroked her hair back. "I'm so glad it worked, baby," I said, kissing her forehead.

"Me, too, Sasuke-kun. I haven't been able to hear for ten years. This is wonderful."

I grinned. She pulled me close and kissed me.

When she pulled away, she said, "Hey…Sasuke-kun?"

"Yes?"

"Thank you…for being here for me, you know? Ever since my mom died…my dad tried so hard, and he's a really great dad…but he's had to go on a lot of missions to support us…and you've been here for me when he's gone. I love you, Sasuke-kun."

"I love you, too, Sakura-chan."

She smiled. "It sounds so good to actually hear you say that."

I kissed her again then, and we fell asleep.

After she had woken up and was put into my care for the next week, I took her to a valley behind my house and proposed to her. She was ecstatic. She immediately accepted and I kissed her as hard as I could. I was so happy.

I stayed with her at her home the next few days, helping her to recuperate, and waited for her father.

When he did come home, we were sitting on the couch playing a card game. The door closed. She winced. Her ears were still very sensitive, and I talked quietly anyways, but we were taking extra measures to make sure things stayed quiet.

"Hey, kids," Kakashi said kind of loudly.

"Hey, Daddy. Can you be a little quieter?" she asked nonchalantly.

He gave us a funny look, then ran to her side. "Sakura, can you hear me?" he asked.

She nodded. "Yes, I can."

"What? How?"

She giggled. "Shishou found a guy in Sand who was an ear specialist. I had surgery six days ago. My ears are a little sensitive, but I can _hear_, Daddy!"

He hugged her tight. She was smiling so big, I thought her face would split in two. I was so glad she was happy.

Now, when Kakashi noticed the ring…that was a completely different story.


	4. Chapter 4

When we were nineteen, she walked up to me while I was training and said, "Hey, Sasuke-kun, can we go home and talk?"

I nodded, standing up and putting my shirt back on. It was August, and it was burning outside.

I took her arm and we went to our big, empty mansion. I got some water and leaned on the kitchen counter.

"You might want to sit down, Sasuke," she said nervously, picking at the hem of her shirt and biting her lip. Her eyes wouldn't meet mine. I sat down in front of her and took her hand. She pulled it away and started to sign. She often did that when she was too nervous to say something out loud.

_Sasuke-kun, I love you._

"I love you, too, Sakura."

_I don't know how you'll react to this._

"Just tell me, baby."

She sighed and bit her lip, then looked up at me and put my hand on her stomach.

_I'm pregnant,_ she signed. My eyes widened and I swiftly stood up, kissing her.

She pulled away a few moments later. "You're not mad?" she said.

"Why would I be mad?" I asked.

"Because…well, we're still teenagers, and I'm going to need you around the house more often so there'll be less missions for a while, and we're going to have to _tell_ people, and I just didn't know if you _wanted _to be a dad, because I mean, we haven't really talked about it and—"

I put a finger on her lips. "Sakura. I love you. I _do_ want to be a dad. I don't care how many missions we have. We're not _that_ young, I mean, Tenten's pregnant with hers and Neji's second, for crying out loud. And I want people to know. I'm proud of this, Sakura. I'm proud of _you_. So don't be scared. I'll be here every step of the way, okay?"

She nodded and smiled, then hugged me again. "Thank you, Sasuke-kun. I love you."

I kissed her. "I love you, too."

After a while, she looked at me and said, "You know, Sasuke-kun, I think that's the most I've ever heard you say in a sentence."

I smirked and kissed her temple. I was going to ignore the insult hidden in that sentence and just be happy for now.


	5. Chapter 5

And now, I sat beside her bed, waiting for her to awaken, when the door opened.

"He's healthy," Tsunade said, handing me a small bundle. "Any change with her?"

I shook my head, looking down at the tiny baby in my arms. "She's still asleep."

Tsunade nodded, sighing, and patted my shoulder, then left. I cradled the little boy close to my body, and kissed his forehead, holding back tears. He was beautiful…perfect, even.

I heard a little noise emit from his mouth. I smiled and undid his blanket a little bit to see his tiny fingers and toes.

I heard a stirring sound from his mother and looked up at her. "Mmmnh…"

"Hey, Mommy," I said quietly. She blinked a few times and looked at me, then smiled widely. "He's okay," she said in relief.

"Healthy as can be. Are you up to holding him?"

She nodded and I helped her sit up, then carefully handed the little boy to his mother.

She smiled, and big fat tears started to roll down her face when she saw him. She grinned. "Sasuke-kun, he's beautiful…"

"He really is, isn't he?" I asked lovingly.

"I can't believe we're parents, Sasuke-kun…"

"Me, neither."

I mean, who would ever think that me, _Uchiha Sasuke_, would ever be _Daddy_?

Well, Sakura and I did…but seriously. I'm a daddy? Too weird.

We decided to name him "Kenji."

Tsunade walked in and said, "Hey, sweetie…how are you feeling?"

"I'm fine. I'm happy."

"Well, I just wanted to get you to sign the birth certificate. He's healthy, Sakura."

She smiled, then frowned concernedly. "Can he hear okay?"

Tsunade nodded. "He's perfect. Absolutely perfect. There's no need to worry, baby."

Sakura seemed to visibly relax and we signed the birth certificate.

I relaxed, too. I finally had my family…my _home_. And I was finally happy again.

I had my wife and my son…and I realized, looking into that little boy's angelic face…this is my new beginning.

_End._

**Cheesy, I know. But it's kinda cute, eh? **

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**Peace out.**


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